Miraculous Online
by Darkford
Summary: An AU fic! Here we go again, me starting something I won't finish, but that's okay. I'll get somewhere... anyways, enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

The day was over, and Marinette pulled herself away from her seat, stretching after a long day of school. Alya patted her back sympathetically and began to drag her in the general direction of her home.

This was daily routine, but this wasn't a normal day.

Alya's phone rang, and she momentarily dropped her sleepy classmate's hand to find out what it was. Smiling, she tapped a few buttons and held it to her ear, listening attentively as the dial tone rang on for a short time.

"Hey, Nino, how's work?" She inquired. Marinette vaguely recalled that the part-time DJ was also working on some sound systems for some CEO of a company. Big job, but she was sure he could do it, and apparently he'd met a good friend there.

" _It's great!"_ He called hurriedly through the phone, his voice distorted slightly by the connection. " _Adrien, my boss's son, has gone missing, but I'm sure we'll find him!"_

"Right," Alya agreed. "He was the pretty blonde kid, right? I'll keep an eye out for him." She smirked. "Now, you get back to work. No point keeping you - but remember you have a gig to play at 8." She hung up on his exhausted groan and grabbed Marinette again.

"Right, you need some sleep," Alya decided. "C'mon, follow me. Chloe can't have worn you down that much." She paused. "Well, she can, but you get the point."

"Mmm..." Marinette mumbled. "Ice cream?"

Alya sighed fondly. "Sure. You look like you need it."

* * *

Marinette had recovered very well from her daze, it seemed, as she ate her ice cream eagerly. There was a second on the way, and the moment that ice cream was in her hands, they decided it was time to leave.

As they walked down the street, the sky became clouded over, and Marinette frowned up at it.

"A bit of your bad luck, eh, girl?" Alya sympathized. "Don't worry, I bet it will blow over."

Just then, they heard a tapping of footsteps behind them, and they turned around.

Alya saw Adrien.

Marinette saw a Chloe clone.

"Um, excuse me!" He called hopefully. "Do you know the way to the Agreste estate?"

 _Oh,_ Marinette thought, rolling her eyes inwardly. _The Agreste boy..._

She shook it off. _No, Marinette, people aren't defined by names._

Adrien smiled a winning smile as Alya motioned him over, and he ran to catch up with them.

"My name's Adrien," he explained quickly. "I'm sorry to impose like this, but I decided to visit a nearby bakery on my way home from my Chinese lessons, and I got lost."

"Don't worry," Alya comforted. "My BF works at your place, I know the place you're talking about. Your Dad's pretty worried."

Adrien frowned at that, but as Marinette looked up for the first time during the conversation, she felt she saw something more... detailed in the way he looked. Like she could see hundreds of emotions desperate to bubble to the surface.

"Here," she murmured, handing him the untouched ice cream cone. She felt him accept it, and hoped it would help him feel better. After a while, just listening got boring.

"Um..." She tried to get their attention, but they were rattling off about video games, and she sighed in frustration. Instead, she ate her own ice cream, and when that was done, she tried again.

"Um, hello?" she said dubiously, getting no response. "Alya? Adrien?"

They were walking away, and she was tired of it. Alya suddenly noticed and gave Marinette a sly smile.

"Oh, look at the time!" Alya cried, looking at her phone. "Sorry, Adrien, gotta run, I'm sure Marinette will help you get home."

"Okay," He agreed, smiling brightly. As Alya ran off into the distance Marinette was suddenly locked into the gaze of Adrien Agreste, son of one of her favourite brands and biggest inspirations.

"I... I'm sorry if it seemed like we were ignoring you," he apologized suddenly. She looked up again, this time more sincerely as he continued, "I... didn't mean to be rude. I'm sorry."

There was a crack of thunder, and he quickly opened a black umbrella.

"Please," he added, holding it out to her.

She felt something fuzz up in her heart, and her brain was short circuiting. There was... this wasn't a Chloe clone, this was an _angel_.

She flinched away as his skin nearly touched hers, and instead she grabbed the umbrella and they pulled apart.

"I can see my estate from here," he explained. "Well, got to run!" He dashed off into the distance, leaving her standing there in a bewildered state.

Then the umbrella closed on her.


	2. Chapter 2

Marinette looked at the little paper that had been attached to the boy's umbrella.

 _FC 45493043_

She was fairly certain this was a friend code, as Alya called it; something that let people meet up and other vaguely interesting things.

She surprisingly hadn't played the VR game, _Miraculous,_ yet; between working on design and getting what little sleep she could, she didn't have time.

Sitting down on her sofa, she waved to her papa and put on the visor, which clipped to her face. She grabbed the other things she needed - just a few sensors for her feet and hands. She let them snap on and watched as the world faded to black.

* * *

"WELCOME!"

"Whoa! Turn the sound down!"

"Sorry. Sound down to 50%. Welcome to Miraculous!" The cheery narrator said amicably.

"Um, thank you?" Marinette tried.

"You're welcome. Please proceed to Character Creation." She smiled and pointed to a door in the inexpicable white. "I'll see you later!"

Marinette got used to the controls, which felt pretty much like real life without all the tripping over her own body and the dull pains from bruises she got occasionally. There was nothing in the virtual world that would actually hurt you; all you'd feel was a tingling sensation.

She got to the character screen, and she was surprisingly given a drawing board for her outfit.

 _Well, may as well have some fun._

She decide, at last, on what would appear to be a simple village girl. A bit indiana jones, a bit victorian, but with a balance that struck people blind. She added a few steampunk elements to her outfit, like a little pocket watch and a pair of goggles, and accepted it happily.

"Sweet," She decided.

Then it was stat variance. She poured most of her points into luck - she could use as much as she could get - and the rest into dexterity and agility.

She could really use those.

The world dissolved, and when it reformed she was standing in a town.

"Well, that's interesting," she decided, nodding quietly at the characters that walked by around her. She couldn't tell the players from NPCs, which was confusing, but nonetheless interesting.

She walked along casually for a bit until finally she reached a small forest. Going in, she started to practice swinging from trees; her extra dexterity and speed allowed her to do so pretty easily, and it thrilled her to hop easily from tree to tree.

That is, until she ran into someone.

* * *

The old man looked brightly up at her as she helped him up, and she could tell he was important from the moment she saw his name. He had displayed it for her, and it was in a dark purple that was reserved for the Admin Hawkmoth.

She presumed this was probably not Hawkmoth, which confused her. She'd only ever seen pictures of him wearing an elaborate suit.

"Thank you, young lady," he said with a smile. "My name is Master Fu. Tell me, why are you here?"

"Oh, I was practicing," she admitted shyly. "Can I help you?"

"I will be alright," he said firmly. "I simply wish for you to head that way. There is something there I believe will help you immensely on your journey."

"Right," Marinette agreed. She started walking through the forest again, vaguely confused as to why it was so isolated, and finally burst into a clearing.

Probably the first thing she noticed was the pedestal. It was white, and greek-looking, and atop it was a small black box. Deciding this was loot for one thing or another, she stepped forward and took the little box into her hands, opening it carefully.

Inside were a _beautiful_ pair of Ladybug Earrings.

She smirked, and taking them out, she attached them to her ears.

The reaction was instantaneous.

There was an unearthly glow as they clicked, and she felt her body being picked up off the ground. When the light faded, she was dropped again, and she looked up to see... a Ladybug?

No, definitely not a Ladybug. This creature was red with black spots, sure, but it had a large head on a little body and adorable antennae that wiggled greeting.

"Hello?" Marinette tried.

"Hello!" It chirped back. "Who are you?"

"Marinette."

"My name's Tikki!" The creature replied happily. "I'm one of the seven Miraculous that exist in this game!" she giggled. "I'm sentient, though. Don't underestimate me!"

"You're sentient?" Marinette inquired. "Like, for real, or is that just game text?"

"For real!" Tikki replied readily. "I can prove it with some questions, but honestly I'm not very good at those. Moving on, your new superpowers!"

"Wait, what?" Marinette said weakly. "Does this happen to everyone?"

"Nope!" Tikki giggled. "You're very, very, very lucky you found me!"

"Lucky, huh?" Marinette smiled. "Alright. Give me the details, you've got my attention."


End file.
